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Queen of the Slayers
is a ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' novel. Written by Nancy Holder, it was originally published on May 31, 2005 by Pocket Books. Synopsis No vacation. No benefits. And the only retirement is an early death. With the closing of the Hellmouth and the awakening of hundreds of potential slayers, Buffy Summers thought she had overturned the Slayer's self-sacrifice and earned herself a much-deserved break. But the thrill of victory is short-lived. The Forces of Darkness are not ones to graciously accept defeat, and the collective rage unites disparate and powerful parties more eager than ever to reclaim dominance. Willow's magickal distribution of the slayer essence left girls across the world discovering their latent power. Giles races to reorganize the now much-needed Watchers Council, and the Scoobies relocate to Europe. And there in Rome, Buffy is drawn to the Immortal — a charismatic, if inscrutable, figure. But then comes word that a number of the fresh slayers are being coerced to join an army of slayers — governed by the mysterious "Queen of the Slayers," an awesome evil determined to claim the intoxicating slayer essence for herself. Xander is sent to Africa to learn more about the origin of the slayer essence. Instead, he returns to report that, alarmingly, there's not enough good in the world to counteract the overabundance of evil, and that the deciding apocalypse is drawing much too near. Alliances are formed and loyalties betrayed as it comes down to slayer versus slayer, leading to an ultimate battle of champions — from Buffy's past and present. And then an unimaginable gift arrives... Summary Following the Hellmouth's closure, hundreds of potential slayers have been activated. Buffy hoped that overturning the Slayer's self-sacrifice would result in her earning some relaxation following seven years of fighting. However, the victory is short-lived. Dark forces are arising to fill the gap left by the First Evil. Willow's Slayer activation spell has resulted in girls everywhere discovering their new power. The Scoobies, after having a traumatic night in a small town involving shapeshifters, resolve to travel to Europe. In London, Giles races to reorganize the remnants of the Watchers Council, hoping to overcome the shortcomings of its previous incarnation. Buffy, Xander, Willow, Dawn, and her new best friend, a young slayer named Belle, travel to Rome to train new Slayers that are drawn to the Immortal, whom Buffy's attracted to but does not fully trust. They soon hear of a mysterious "Queen of the Slayers" who is getting a number of the fresh slayers to form a mystical army. This likely evil seems determined to claim the slayer essence for herself, and viciously murders any Slayers that don't cooperate with her and betray Buffy. Faith and Robin take a group of Slayers to the Hellmouth in Cleveland, which has gone supernova with evil, to stabilize the hell there. They suffer casualties, among other things, and experience strange projections of the Legion of Three, three deadly hellish gods. The Legion attempts to break through the dimensional barriers of Earth in order to rip Buffy's head off. Meanwhile, Ornella, the self-titled "Queen of the Slayers," is advised by her lover Antonio Borgia, a sorcerer under the employ of the Immortal, who attempts to bring forth his ancient vampire ancestors from their hell dimension, who desire to taste the blood of the true Slayer. Xander travels to Africa, hoping to find more about the origins of the slayer essence. He discovers instead that the good in the world is not enough to fight the bad, and that the deciding confrontation is drawing far too near. It will be slayer against slayer, as an ultimate battle of champions approaches. While there, he meets the spirits of past Slayers, as well as Tara, who brings him Anya as a temporary gift. Dawn goes into a coma, as she was the Key and has a link to the Earth, which is crumbling because of the ensuing evil. Willow also seems to go into a coma because of this, but is somehow woken up by a kiss from her lover Kennedy when she, Faith, and Robin are called back to Rome, after realizing that the fight in a deserted Cleveland was pointless. Buffy, Willow, Kennedy, Belle, Vi and Rona head to Brazil, under the orders of Tara, to get the Death Orchid, which has healing abilities, but they are attacked by the Queen of the Slayers. They are saved from poison darts by one of the rogue slayers, Haley, who realizes what she has done and gives them the antidote. They then go to Tibet to meet with the infamous sorcerer, the Golden One, and are reunited with Oz, who is now one of the werewolves that protect the Golden One. After the Golden One is killed, Oz and his pack decide to head to Rome, to help Buffy and her Slayers against the upcoming battle. After healing Dawn, Buffy goes on patrol along with Faith, and the two meet a rogue Slayer, who they believe is leading them into a trap. Their belief comes reality when she leads the Slayer sisters right into the hands of Ornella and her demons. Buffy and Faith waste the demons easily and escape back to the Immortal's place, where he betrays them, knocks them out, and chains all of the Scoobies up. Buffy, unconscious, is visited by Whistler. The Powers That Be have sent him to the Slayer for her to see the battle in Los Angeles that has Angel, Spike, and the Angel Investigations team fighting against the hell that Wolfram & Hart has sent upon them. Buffy cries in horror as she believes that both the vampires will die again. She is then joined by both Angel and Spike's souls, and together they create an angelic daughter with all of their features, who gives Buffy the strength she needs to wake up, gather her friends, her team, her Slayers, and defeat the Legion of Three. Buffy wakes up the morning after the battle to find her friends building her funeral pyre, believing her to be dead again. She finds her friends safe and sound, though Faith was forced to kill Slayers who wouldn't surrender. Buffy has a confidential conversation with Willow, who reveals that she also saw Buffy's future daughter. Buffy looks into the sunset, declares her love for all of her friends (including Andrew), and vows to see Angel, Spike and the little girl again. Continuity *The events of this story occur in place of the canonical series Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight. *Buffy living in Rome and her attraction to the Immortal are based on episode "The Girl in Question". However, The Long Way Home, Part One reveals the girl had been a decoy instead. *Faith and Robin guard Cleveland's Hellmouth, as it's indeed revealed in No Future for You, Part One. *Xander parts to Africa while Willow and Kennedy go to Brazil, both as mentioned in "Damage". *Dawn being in coma due to her magical connection to the world is an event that indeed happens during the end of magic (The Core, Part One). *Buffy witnesses the Team Angel's fight against Wolfram & Hart that begins in "Not Fade Away". Appearances Individuals *Ambrose-Bellairs *Angel *Aram *Belle *Bey *Antonio Borgia *Cesare Borgia *Lucrezia Borgia *Eo *Rupert Giles *Golden One *Charles Gunn *Haley *Lucy Hanover *Alexander Harris *Illyria *The Immortal *Janus *Anya Jenkins *Kennedy *Faith Lehane *Lisa *Tara Maclay *Malfeo *Marie *Ornella *Daniel Osbourne *Rona *Willow Rosenberg *Shri-Urth *Spike *Sineya *Buffy Summers *Dawn Summers *Violet *Andrew Wells *Whistler *Nikki Wood *Robin Wood Organizations and titles *Scooby Gang *Slayer Locations *Los Angeles, USA *Rome, Italy *Tibet Behind the scenes Production *The cover features a promotional picture taken for ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' season 6. fr:Queen of the Slayers Category:Buffy novels